5.  The applicant was born in 1962. He is currently serving a prison sentence in Łęczyca prison.
6.  On 25 July 2000 the applicant was arrested and his apartment was searched by the police. He was subsequently remanded in custody from 27 July 2000 until 31 May 2001. In a judgment of 8 January 2002 the Kutno District Court found the applicant guilty of burglary and sentenced him to three and a half years’ imprisonment. The applicant, who was at that time in detention for the purposes of another criminal case against him, was represented before the court by a legal‑aid lawyer, M.M.
7.  On an unknown later date the lawyer submitted his appeal to the court. By a letter of 4 July 2002 the court, apparently unaware of the fact that the applicant remained in detention in connection with another criminal case, informed the applicant that the appeal submitted by the lawyer had been declared admissible. This letter was sent by registered letter to the applicant’s home address and served on his wife. The court considered it to have been properly served on the party as required by the applicable laws. The appeal itself was neither sent to the applicant nor served on him.
8.  On 15 May 2003 the court sent another letter to the applicant’s home address, informing him that his legal‑aid lawyer had been replaced by another one, A.L. This letter was not collected from the post office within the statutory period and was returned to the registry of the court. The court considered, in compliance with the applicable provisions of criminal procedure, that it had been properly served on the applicant.
9.  Subsequently, the court sent a summons to the hearing before the appellate court to the applicant’s home address. It was not served on him as he remained in detention.
10.  The new legal‑aid lawyer did not get in touch with the applicant. The applicant learned from one of the inmates in Łowicz prison that an appeal had been lodged in his case and that a hearing was soon to be held. On 15 July 2003 he wrote a letter to the court requesting it to postpone the hearing and to be brought before the court. He also submitted his own arguments in support of the appeal.
11.  On 17 July 2003 a hearing was held, in the applicant’s absence, before the Łódź Regional Court. The court dismissed the lawyer’s appeal.
12.  On 28 July 2003 the applicant was informed by the registry of the court that his request of 15 July and his appeal had been submitted to the court after the hearing of 17 July 2003. On the same day the applicant complained to the court that he had been unable to participate in the hearing.
13.  On 8 August 2003 a copy of the judgment given by the appellate court was sent to the prison where the applicant was detained at that time.
14.  On 14 August 2003 the applicant requested legal aid for the purpose of preparing a cassation appeal against the judgment of 17 July 2003. On the same day he submitted a detailed complaint to the Łódź Court of Appeal about the fact that he had not been properly notified of the hearing, that the legal‑aid lawyer had been replaced without his knowing it, that he had neither been served with a copy of the appeal nor informed that it had been accepted for examination, and that he could not participate in the hearing. He was of the view that his defence rights had thereby been breached and that the conviction was in any event not safe, given the errors committed by the first-instance court in the assessment of the evidence.
15.  On 8 September 2003 A.L., the same lawyer who had represented the applicant before the appellate court, was assigned to the case. On the same day the court, referring to Article 448 § 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, informed the applicant that he had not been entitled in law to have a copy of the lawyer’s appeal served on him, and that the summons had been served at his home address.
16.  On 11 September 2003 the applicant submitted his own cassation appeal to the Supreme Court. He reiterated the procedural complaints which he had made in respect of the appellate proceedings. He also argued that the court had failed to take into consideration circumstances pointing to his innocence.
17.  On 12 September 2003 the applicant was informed that he had been granted legal aid for the purposes of the cassation proceedings. On 22 September 2003 A.L. notified the court and the applicant that he had found no grounds on which to prepare a cassation appeal. The applicant was served with this letter on 25 September 2003.
18.  On 26 September 2003 the applicant lodged a complaint against A.L. with the Łódź Bar Association. He submitted, essentially, that he should not have been assigned to represent him in the cassation proceedings, given what had happened in the proceedings before the appellate court. On the same day he requested the court to accept his own cassation appeal for examination.
19.  The Bar Association answered on 17 October 2003, stating that A.L. had been right to refuse to prepare a cassation appeal in the applicant’s case.
20.  On 26 September 2003 the applicant lodged further pleadings in support of his cassation appeal dated 11 September 2003 (see paragraph 16 above).
21.  On 3 October 2003 the Łódź Regional Court refused to accept the applicant’s cassation appeal as it had not been prepared and signed by a lawyer as required by law. The applicant appealed. On 4 November 2003 the court summoned him to have that appeal submitted by a lawyer.
22.  By a letter of 17 October 2003 the Łódź Regional Bar Association informed the applicant that a legal‑aid lawyer was, under the applicable laws, entitled to refuse to prepare a cassation appeal.
23.  On 18 December 2003 the Łódź Regional Court refused to accept for examination the applicant’s appeal against the decision of 3 October 2003, finding that it should have been submitted by a lawyer. On 17 March 2004 an appeal by the applicant against that decision was dismissed by the Supreme Court.
24.  On 11 February 2002 the Gostynin District Court found the applicant guilty of attempted car theft and sentenced him to two years’ imprisonment. The applicant appealed. On 19 June 2002 the Płock Regional Court dismissed the appeal.
25.  On 23 June 2003 the applicant issued a request to have both judgments quashed and his case re-examined by the first-instance court. He argued that new evidence had emerged, namely the statement of K.S., who had confessed to the crime of which the applicant had been found guilty.
26.  On 21 November 2003 the Warsaw Court of Appeal dismissed the request. The court found K.S.’s statement “implausible”.